Family Stories - Exodus Books

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"Family stories" isn't really a recognized genre, but it should be. Sure, most novels deal with families on some level, but we aren't talking about the dysfunctional ones so common in modern (and Russian) fiction. For us, family stories are those that celebrate family life through a particular family's story, whether it's a Ma and Pa taking their girls across country in a covered wagon, an Austrian count saving his wife and kids from the Nazis, or a Jewish family in New York prior to World War I.

Tolstoy's famous observation that "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way," is constantly disproved in these stories. Unhappy families are usually unhappy as a result of selfishness and sin, while happy ones enjoy remarkably diverse experiences that broaden each individual member and the whole family unit together. That's not to say happy families never suffer—they often suffer even more than others, but the difficulties bring them closer together and build character.

By extension, families who take heed of these real and fictional families' response to hardship will find themselves similarly bonded, thankful for each other instead of resentful, happy to sacrifice individual desires for the benefit of the group rather than demanding special favors. Other than Christ's Body, the family is the most important social group for Christians, and we prefer family stories that reflect a pursuit of godliness—the too-often-neglected Papa's Wife is an excellent example.

Some of the stories here are just for fun, though. Cheaper by the Dozen may not spur you on to piety, but it will make you laugh till your sides hurt. The Sarah, Plain and Tall books aren't churchy, but the love of Jacob Witting for his children and the woman who becomes their mother is instructive for us all. Family stories make good family reading, too, because the best ones appeal to each member. Besides, any activity that brings everyone together can never be considered a waste of time.

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	26 Fairmount Avenue by Tomie dePaola from Mondo Publishing for 2nd-4th grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $3.00 (1 in stock)
	Alfie and the Big Boys by Shirley Hughes Reprint from Red Fox for Preschool-2nd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $13.99
	Alfie and the Birthday Surprise by Shirley Hughes Reissue from Red Fox for Preschool-2nd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
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	All Those Secrets of the World by Jane Yolen 1^st edition from Little, Brown & Company for Preschool-3rd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
	All-of-a-Kind Family Downtown All-of-a-Kind Family Series #2 by Sydney Taylor, illustrated by Beth & Joe Krush from Lizzie Skurnick Books Family Stories for 2nd-6th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $12.95
	All-of-a-Kind Family Uptown All-of-a-Kind Family Series #4 by Sydney Taylor, illustrated by Mary Stevens from Lizzie Skurnick Books Family Stories for 2nd-6th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $12.95
	Big Alfie and Annie Rose Storybook by Shirley Hughes from Red Fox for Preschool-2nd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $14.99
	Bracelet, The by Yoshika Uchida from PaperStar Books for Preschool-3rd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
	Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss & Crockett Johnson from HarperCollins Humorous Book on Botany for Nursery-2nd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $4.50 (5 in stock)
	Chair For My Mother by Vera B. Williams from HarperCollins Family Stories for Kindergarten-3rd grade 1983 Caldecott Honor Book in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $7.99
	Charlotte's Web - Full Color Edition by E. B. White from HarperCollins for 2nd-5th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $9.99
	Egg Tree by Katherine Milhous from Aladdin Paperbacks for Preschool-2nd grade 1951 Caldecott Medal winner in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
	Evening at Alfie's by Shirley Hughes Reprint from Red Fox for Preschool-2nd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $12.99
	Happy Little Family Fairchild Family Series #1 by Rebecca Caudill from Bethlehem Books for Kindergarten-3rd grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $12.95
	Here's a Penny by Carolyn Haywood from Sandpiper Books for Kindergarten-3rd grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $7.99
	How My Parents Learned to Eat by Ina R. Friedman from Sandpiper Books for Kindergarten-3rd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $7.99
	Just Plain Fancy by Patricia Polacco 1^st edition from Dragonfly Books for Preschool-2nd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $7.99
	Least of All by Carol Purdy from Sonlight Curriculum, Ltd. for Preschool-2nd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
	Middle Moffat Moffats #2 by Eleanor Estes from Harcourt Realistic Fiction for 2nd-5th grade 1943 Newbery Honor Book in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $7.99
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	Moffats Moffats #1 by Eleanor Estes from Harcourt Realistic Fiction for 2nd-5th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $9.99
	Molly's Pilgrim by Barbara Cohen, illustrated by Daniel Mark Duffy from Scholastic Inc. for Kindergarten-3rd grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $1.50 (2 in stock)
	Moominland Midwinter Moomintrolls Book #5 by Tove Jansson from Farrar, Straus and Giroux for 1st-7th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $8.99
	Moominpappa at Sea Moomintrolls Book #7 by Tove Jansson from Farrar, Straus and Giroux for 1st-7th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $8.99
	Moominsummer Madness Moomintrolls Book #4 by Tove Jansson from Farrar, Straus and Giroux for 1st-7th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $7.99
	Moominvalley in November Moomintrolls Book #8 by Tove Jansson from Farrar, Straus and Giroux for 1st-7th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN) $7.99
	More All-of-a-Kind Family All-of-a-Kind Family Series #3 by Sydney Taylor from Lizzie Skurnick Books Family Stories for 2nd-6th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $12.95
	Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present by Charlotte Zolotow from HarperCollins for Preschool-3rd grade 1963 Caldecott Honor Book in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $6.95
	Nana Upstairs & Nana Downstairs by Tomie DePaola from Puffin Books for Nursery-2nd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $7.99
	New Coat for Anna by Harriet Ziefert from Random House Historical Fiction for 1st-3rd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $8.99
	Peppe the Lamplighter by Elisa Bartone from William Morrow & Company Family Stories for 1st-3rd grade 1994 Caldecott Honor book in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $8.99
	Rufus M. Moffats #3 by Eleanor Estes from Harcourt Realistic Fiction for 2nd-5th grade 1944 Newbery Honor Book in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $7.99
	Schoolhouse in the Woods Fairchild Family Series #2 by Rebecca Caudill from Bethlehem Books Realistic Fiction for Kindergarten and Up! in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
	Schoolroom in the Parlor Fairchild Family Series #4 by Rebecca Caudill from Bethlehem Books Realistic Fiction for Kindergarten and Up! in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
	Sick Day by Patricia MacLachlan from Dell Publishing Family Stories for Kindergarten-3rd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
	Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles, Illustrated by George Ford Rep Anv Sp from Scholastic Inc. for Kindergarten-3rd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $6.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
	Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles, Illustrated by George Ford from Scholastic Inc. for Kindergarten-3rd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE) $4.50 (2 in stock)
	Sugaring Time by Kathryn Lasky from Aladdin Paperbacks for Preschool-3rd grade 1984 Newbery Honor Book in Food & Farming Around the World (Location: HISMC-FOOD) $9.99
	Sugaring Time by Kathryn Lasky from Macmillan for Preschool-3rd grade 1984 Newbery Honor Book in Food & Farming Around the World (Location: HISMC-FOOD)
	The Moomins Set by Tove Jansson from Square Fish Publishing for 1st-7th grade in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
	Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher from University Press of New England Family Stories for 2nd-6th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
	Understood Betsy (abridged) by Dorothy Canfield Fisher from Bob Jones University Press Family Stories for 2nd-6th grade in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA) $6.99
	Up and Down the River Fairchild Family Series #3 by Rebecca Caudill from Bethlehem Books Realistic Fiction for Kindergarten and Up! in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
	What Mary Jo Shared by Janice May Udry from Scholastic Inc. for 1st-2nd grade in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)

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